A Summer in Volterra
by wouldbecullen
Summary: Six strangers become friends on a study abroad trip to Volterra, Italy, but what happens when they meet some of the city's oldest inhibatents? All the usual pairings ExB, AxJ, RxEm and a few twists. Edward's got green eyes i.e. AH, except the Volturri .
1. Lead Guitar

**A/N**: So, like I said in the summary, I had this idea while in a bout of writer's block for another story i'm working on. I think it turned out pretty well, review please. I need to know if it's worth continuing. Oh yeah, it's rated T cause of some stuff I've got planed later on. Thanks to anyone who reads this :)

**Disclamer: **I don't own Twilight or any of the characters in it, Stephenie Meyer does. She's purley amazing, I wish my characters could measure up to hers.

**Chapter 1: Lead Guitar**

**Bella's POV**

I was excited, for the first time in days. It was happening, no longer a distant maybe. I was on a plane, a huge international jet, on my way to Italy, Volterra Italy, to be exact. It was the beginning of something, I sensed.

Needing something to do I pushed my one carry-on bag under the seat in front of me, then fiddled with my jacket, clumsily pulling my arms out of the sleeves. I felt much better in the black fitted tee-shirt with a quote from my favorite book on the back. I placed my hands on my dark washed jean clad legs, tapping out a fast beat on my knee.

I leaned back and attempted without much success to relax. When that failed, I turned my head to look out of the window. The scenery wasn't as dramatic as it would be within ten hours I was sure, the Portland, Oregon airport landing strip wasn't scenic per say, just gray. But even seas of concrete couldn't stifle my excitement. Only two months ago had I gotten my letter of acceptance form the Reed College study abroad program, and now I was on a plane about to live out the adventure I had fanaticized about.

I was leaned back with my eyes closed day dreaming of Italian boys with tan skin, curly dark hair, and beautiful accents when I heard movement to my left, the occupant of the seat beside me must be coming to sit down, finally. I was beginning to think that nobody had bought that ticket, the plane was nearly full and about to prepare for take off. I sat up and opened my eyes to see the newcomer. With my luck it was most likely an eighty year old man who would fall asleep and drool on himself, or a large New Jersey woman who would try to talk to me about her relationship problems the entire way.

When I looked up, already resigned to be friendly and polite to my sure to be disastrous seat mate, I was stunned. The guy who stood above me was not eighty and he wasn't wearing blue eye shadow to match a poorly died head of blond hair. He was tall, especially from my vantage point and he looked down at me with huge green eyes. His hair was a peculiar bronze color, it wasn't brown and it wasn't red. It looked windswept and he was breathing heavily as if he had just finished running a long distance. I smiled up at him and tried to play it cool. "Hey," was all I could manage. He smiled in return,

"Hey, I think this is my seat, 14 J?"

"I'm in 15 J, so I think so," he seemed friendly, too. Not in an obnoxious way, but a little reserved, the mystery man. He held out his hand and I shook it, "I'm Bella, Bella Swan." It was hard to suppress my giggles; I had, without meaning to, quoted James Bond.

"I'm Edward Masen," he said, looking down at my hand. Just then did I realize that I was still shaking his hand like an idiot.

"Umm, sorry," I said, blushing.

"It's ok, so where are you from?" he asked. He seemed interested in me. This question of general politeness meant something to him, the thought made me smile.

"I'm originally from Phoenix, Arizona but I'm starting at Reed next semester." I didn't feel the need to add that I was starting as a freshman, having just graduating from high school. "What about you?" I asked.

"I was born and grew up in Chicago, actually. I'm starting at Reed next semester, too. That's why I'm on this trip, or how rather, the why is because I've been dying to go to Italy my entire life," he explained. I cautiously hoped, was Edward going to be in the same program as me? Looked like it, but I wouldn't set my hopes too high.

"What trip, are you doing the Summer Abroad program?"

"Oh, yeah, I guess I didn't say that. Are you?"

"Yeah, I am." My smile grew wider; my thoughts of dark Italian boys on mopeds were replaced by ones of pale boys with bronze hair and green eyes from the windy city. I wanted to know more about him. "So, Edward, tell me about yourself," I said, hoping that I didn't sound like an overly eager school girl.

"Well, you know I'm from Chicago. I'm in a band." It sounded like a question, like he was asking if that was okay. I loved musicians.

"Really?" I asked, "That's so cool. What do you play?" The excitement of jetting off to a foreign country and the knowledge that my new acquaintance would be joining me feel ecstatic and my enthusiasm caught in my voice.

"Lead guitar," he answered. "Well, guitar, I'm not the best or anything." He stumbled over his words. It was adorable. I gave him my best inviting and reassuring smile, so that he would see that I didn't think he was arrogant for playing lead.

"Do you sing, too?" I teased.

"Haha, no, you wouldn't want to hear me sing," he laughed. I wasn't so sure about that.

"I just might," I replied back. We continued talking as the flight attendant gave instructions about seat floatation devices and emergency oxygen masks. This was a fantastic beginning to what was sure to be a fantastic summer.


	2. Roommates

**A/N: **First of all, thanks to AllyR for writing my solitary review. :D So, here it is chapter 2. As allways, I love reviews, they make me happy.

**Disclaimer: **Twilight's not mine, it's Stephenie Meyers. She came up with these amazing characters, not me, I just made them human and put them in cool situations.

**Chapter 2: Roommates**

**Edward's POV**

I sighed, and looked to my left out of the window of the plane to the Atlantic Ocean. I contemplated its vastness. It seemed to extend infinitely in all directions, a continuous mass of deep, clear blue. After a few minutes of continuous ocean gazing, I became bored with that, so instead I looked at the sleeping features of the girl beside me.

She had long straight dark brown hair that was plastered to the side of her face from where she rested her head against the window. I suddenly had the urge to reach out and brush the hair back from her face. My hand drifted toward her face, but then I decided better of acting on the impulse and brought my hand lamely back down to rest on my knee. I returned to studying her features. Her lips were full and red and her skin was strikingly pale considering her dark brown hair and warm brown eyes.

We had talked for hours. She was going to the Summer Abroad program too. I had had to work hard to repress my excitement when she told me this. There was something in her air that unhinged me. Normally I wasn't lost for words, I even wrote them with frequency for my band, Thirst. She had been interested in that too. We weren't very good, we weren't even signed, but I loved to play. When I played music if felt like I was opening up in a way that I couldn't when I talked to people in regular conversation. It was so raw, so honest that I just let go.

As of today music wasn't the only thing that made me feel like this, now there was _someone_ that did, too. When we talked she was so interesting. I was so caught up in her that I forgot about myself. When she described something she made gestures with her hands and she smiled all the time. Her smile was stunning, the first time she smiled I didn't know what to think, and her radiance was coming off on me in waves.

The sun had set and I decided to try to sleep in the too small, too hard, coach class airplane seat. I'd never sat in any other type on an airplane, but had often longed to be able to stretch out my cramped legs in first class. I leaned my chair back in an attempt to create some space. That was a mistake. A shrill scream pierced the still air of the sleeping cabin. I turned around to see who it had come from, and sure enough it was a small elderly woman sitting in the seat directly behind me. She had cores gray hair and had pulled one of the flimsy blankets given to anyone who asks for them on these flights up to her chin.

She glared at me, and I instantly began stammering apologies. The flight attendant had jerked awake from where he was sitting in a chair near the front of the airplane. He walked down the isle to where the woman was sitting behind me still glaring to see what the ruckus was about. "Go back to sleep, son," he advised, while trying to calm down the old lady.

All I could manage in return was a lame, "I'm really sorry." When I turned back around and pulled my seat up Bella was looking curiously at me. Apparently she had been awoken by the old lady's scream like everyone else on this airplane. A coy smile played at the corners of her mouth. I was mortified. I wanted a trap door to open beneath my seat and to just fall and fall. "Sorry, I woke you up," I mumbled, avoiding her gaze.

"You didn't wake me up, the woman you nearly crushed did," she stated. She was only joking, I laughed.

"Sorry all the same," I murmured.

**Bella's POV**

I was tired, I was groggy, I was hungry (having no appetite for the offerings three thousand feet off the ground.), I was sore, I was cramped, and it was 10:00 a.m. in Rome. My flight had gone without event, except some time last night when I had been woken up by what sounded like a woman's shrill scream. I remember that Edward Masen had something to do with it, but I couldn't remember what.

I was in a taxi in Rome, sitting beside Edward Masen. We had gotten off the plane and were thoroughly exhausted, though neither one of us could sleep. Being with Edward was interesting. I had only known him for about ten hours but I was completely at ease with him. When we talked I forgot about myself, I wasn't self conscious and he didn't seem to mind that I had dominated the majority of the conversation. Then I would look at him and see how he was looking at me. It was startling he looked at me in and intense way. It wasn't creepy, he wasn't a perv, but it was undoubtedly not a look of polite disinterest.

The traffic in Rome scared the hell out of me, and our cabbie's driving made it worse. He was aggressive, with one hand on the side of the steering wheel and the other in a fist shaking at other drivers on the treacherous streets. He was shouting loudly, though nobody except Edward and me could hear him, and I was thankful I couldn't understand what he was saying. Edward, much to his credit, was relaxed and composed. He didn't seem to be bothered by fast driving.

We were in the car for about three hours before we reached Volterra. As we entered the city my pulse quickened. It was a walled midlevel town. The stone walls that surrounded it were tan and seemed to extend upwards for ever. I was busy ogling at everything, the scorching sun high up above us, the large fountain in the center piazza, and a strange group of people standing in an ally, just hidden in the shadow. They were all wearing dark floor length capes with hoods that shielded their faces from view, who knew; maybe the creature of the night was all the rage here. Apparently I wasn't the only one who noticed them, because right after we passed by Edward leaned over our baggage that wouldn't fit in the trunk and we had piled in the middle to me and said, "Did you see them?" I knew who he was talking about.

"Yeah I did, a little odd, don't you think? Full on vampire cloak in June," I answered, equally puzzled. I decided to put it out of my mind though, and started a conversation with Edward about his band.

When we arrived at the hotel we were greeted by a friendly woman in the lobby who looked to be in her late twenties and was tan with perfectly highlighted brown hair. She introduced herself as Michelle and asked if we were part of the Summer Abroad program, when we confirmed that yes, we were part of the program she gave us our rooming assignments. "Edward Masen you're in room 212 with," she shuffled through the papers clipped to her clipboard, "Jasper Whitlock and Emmett McCarty. And Bella Swan, you're in room 214 with," more paper shuffling, "Alice Brandon and Rosalie Hale." I turned to Edward and smiled, I seemed to do that a lot around him.

"Looks like we're going to be across from each other."

"Yeah, looks like it," he said with a week smile. It may have been my imagination, but it seemed that he sounded a little nervous as he said it. I grabbed my rolling suitcase by its handle and started steering it towards the elevator, only to realize that I had left my carry-on bag by the check in table. When I turned around to go back and get it, I saw Edward holding it and his bag while walking towards me, he offered to carry my rolling suitcase, too, but I declined. He looked a little over burdened as it was.

I pressed the button for the elevator when we arrived and it lit up yellow. With in seconds the elevator came down and its doors opened. It was old fashioned with crisscrossing iron bars for the door.

When we reached the second floor, the floor our rooms were on, Edward and walked down the hallway, chatting contentedly, then at the end there was a window with a window seat. To the left was his room, 212, and to the right was mine, 214. We said our good byes, and I took my bag back, thanking him for holding it.

I slid my key into the slot and opened the door. The moment I walked in there was someone in my face, a tiny someone with short spiky hair and excited blue eyes. She looked perfectly dressed in dark jeans that hinted of designer origins and a red tank top, which of course, made me even more aware of my own trans-Atlantic flight induced disheveledness. This girl looked cooler than I ever hoped to be. Behind her, sitting on the bed farthest from me was another girl, this one wasn't as short, she had long wavy sunshine blond hair and a face that made me think of classic beauties from 1940's Hollywood. Before I could get my bearings, much less drag my stuff into the room the smaller dark haired girl spoke up, "Hi! I'm Alice, you must be Bella." I had barely nodded to confirm my identity when she went out to the hall and helped me pull my suitcase, which was easily twice her size into the room. Once I was in I became aware of the blond girl again.

"Hey, I'm Rosalie," she said as introduction. Then Alice came back in from the hall where she had been.

"Have you guys seen the view from the hall? It's amazing, come look, so with that she dragged me, still groggy and confused, and Rosalie into the hall to admire the breath taking view of Volterra.


	3. Meet the Gang

**A/N: **I'm really sorry that it took me so long to get this chapter out. School and stuff have been keeping me so busy I barely have time to sleep! Well here it is: chapter three. And as always, reviews make me happy. And the happier I am, the faster I write.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Twilight. I don't claim to either. Isn't it implied that nobody owns this stuff, being a fan fiction site? Maybe not, oh well. I'm not going to chance it.

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**Chapter 3: Meet the Gang**

**Bella's POV**

The view was simply stunning. I couldn't get over it. The lofty sun cast dramatic shadows on the street from the sandy walls that were everywhere.

Three colors stood out, the intense blue of the cloudless sky, the warm sandy color of the walls of the city, and the black shadows made it impossible to see down many narrow alleyways. I sighed, just trying to soak it all in.

I suddenly became aware that I wasn't the only person in the world when I heard Alice and Rosalie's small sighs of contentment. Rosalie's was a lot like mine, she could be sucked into this world that seemed to be straight out of a fairy tale forever, but Alice's sigh was one of finality. She wanted to move on, get going.

Suddenly Alice looked up and jerked her head towards the door opposite ours, Edward's room. Then I heard a loud thump. Something huge must have hit that door. As we got up the door opened and a large muscular guy staggered out followed by Edward and another guy.

The one who was in the front of the pack was had dark brown curly hair and was huge, easily a few inches taller than Edward. He was the kind of huge of the guy who would be captain of the football team if he wanted to, but was too busy being cool to show school spirit.

The one in back, behind Edward and the would-be football player was tall, too, but not huge. He looked fit still, but more of the build of an indie rocker than an NFL player. He had blond hair that was nearly the same honey shade as Rosalie's. Where the big one had a leaning forward eager posture, this guy had his arms folded across his chest and was hunched over.

I had to admit, both of these guys were pretty good-looking. Well, actually they were really, really good-looking, but my eyes kept wondering back to Edward. I couldn't compare them because they were so different, and I already had a little bias.

We all stood there awkwardly for a minute then Edward took a step forward and simply said, "Hey."

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**Edward's POV**

I said bye to Bella and entered my room. It was a generic hotel room that could have been switched from any of the homogeneous rooms back home. The walls were covered in nondescript beige wall paper and almost funnily ugly hotel art. There were two double beds separated by a night stand with a light and an alarm clock.

Lying on the beds were two guys, both of whom looked bored out of their minds. They were throwing something that looked like a digital camera back and forth.

I stood there and watched it soar between the beds like a tennis match for a while, then when I realized that they hadn't noticed me, and weren't likely to, either, I dropped my bags loudly on the floor.

They hit it with a satisfying thud that made the other two guys look up. One of them, a big guy with curly brown hair got off his bed first. "Hey, I'm Emmett," he said as he walked over to set his camera down on the bedside table. He turned around to say something to the other guy, a blond kid, that sounded like "told you we weren't the only ones in this room." The blond guy shrugged and turned to me.

"Hey, I'm Jasper," he introduced himself. The other guy, Emmett, was leaning against the wall opposite the door with his hands in his pockets.

"So what's you're name?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, I'm Edward Masen."

"Hey Edward, come over here." Jasper said as he motioned to the table where Emmett's camera was sitting.

I walked over and he tossed me the camera. I looked at the picture on the tiny screen. At first I didn't known what I was looking at exactly. Everything was dark, but after a few moments of intent study I could see that it was a picture of people in cloaks. The cloaks were long and dark and hid the faces of their wearers. I had seen these people before, in the cab with Bella.

"Creepy, right?" said Emmett, who had moved to the opposite side of the room and was bending down to dig for something in a back pack.

"Yeah, it is," I said. I wasn't finished looking at it yet. "Did you guys see this? There's something white in here. You can see the small one's hand. It's really white."

I showed Jasper, who nodded in agreement. "Pass it over here," Emmett called.

I tried to throw it to him, but my pinkie finger got caught in the strap that nobody ever uses and I ended up flinging it about five feet out of his reach, right in front of the door.

He dove to catch it, slamming into the door to the hallway behind him. The door was slightly ajar, I guess I didn't close it completely. He staggered backward when it didn't support his weight.

Jasper and I ran after him, now back on his feet in the hallway. He wasn't alone. Outside were three girls all crouched around the window and looking at us.

One was Bella. When I saw her my stomach did a tightened a little, which was odd. I hardly ever got nervous around girls, even if they were incredibly beautiful, intelligent, funny girls…

The other two were also very pretty, too, but in opposite ways. One of the girls was tiny with black spiky hair and an ear to ear grin plastered on her face. The other one seemed more reserved, but she was just a striking. She had blond hair, about the same color as Jasper's, and was, well, hot. There was no other way to describe her.

All three of them looked at us for a minute before I realized that I should probably introduce us. My gaze drifted back to Bella as I said lamely, "Hey."

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**A/N: **Okay, I know that chapter was pretty slow and short, but they all needed to meet each other and what better way than an awkward "Hey," from Edward? Please review, and if you've got any ideas for the story tell me. I have a vague idea of where I want to go with it, but I'd love to hear any suggestions you guys have.

**ReviewsLove :D**


	4. Clothes and Things

**Bella's POV**

From the few moments I had known Alice I had gleaned at least a little about her character. One thing, in particular: she wouldn't leave things awkward. Where I probably would have stood there for a minute or two, trying to think of something to say, she just stepped forward and introduced self.

I noticed the boys' postures relax at this. The blond one made no attempt to stop the corners of his mouth from twitching upward. "Hey, I'm Jasper. It's good to meet you, Alice." I noticed a thick southern accent. Even though he wasn't talking directly to _me, _I felt more at ease too.

The bulky guy stepped forward now, saying "Hey y'all, I'm Emmett." Even though the introduction was meant for all three of us he was only looking at Rosalie.

Rosalie introduced herself to the guys the same way she had to me, then it was my turn. Mine was nothing to rave about, then Edward, "I'm Edward, sorry I didn't introduce you guys earlier, I sat by Bella on the plane."

This made Alice frown, more like a pout, really. "You guys know each other already, but we don't all know each other. We've gotta change that!"

"Definitely," said Jasper said. His voice was enthusiastic, and what had merrily been twitching mouth corners moments before was now a wide grin.

"Hell yeah," added Emmett. "Jasper and I had been planning to hit the town anyways, but it'll be a lot more fun with six of us."

I couldn't help it, I was getting excited. I knew it, I knew this would be fun. "I'm sure in," I chirped, probably lamely, but I didn't care.

Edward looked my way and added his eager participation. Rosalie followed suit. It felt like we were all getting ready for a football game, stacking up our hands and screaming the team's cheer. Or at least, this is how I imagined that would feel. I'd never been athletic. At all, actually, whenever I had tried growing up I had managed to inflict bodily harm to either myself or my team mates.

"Okay, sounds like a plan," said Alice, wrapping everything up. "We'll meet you guys out here at seven, then." That was good, it gave me time to unpack and get ready. I checked my watch, surprised to find that it was already 2:00. Dang, traffic in Rome took longer to escape than I had thought.

"See ya," Edward called back at me, following Jasper and Emmett into their room. I smiled wistfully back calling "bye," to his departing back. My heart did an involuntary swelling thing where it felt like it was constricting and blocking my air passages in my throat.

Whoa, that was out of the norm. I had known the guy for like, what? A day? Now I was acting like a thirteen-year-old girl with her first boyfriend passing him by the water fountain. Get it together, Bella, he's not your boyfriend and you're not in eighth grade, you're going to be in college for god's sake.

I trailed behind Rosalie and Alice into our room, still a little dazed. But before I even had a chance to crash on the bed Alice was already going through her suitcase with nearly violent ferocity. "Oh my God!!"

"What is it, Alice?" I asked.

"Did you see them?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah…" I trialed off. Edward, Edward with his bronze hair his green eyes.

"I know!" called Rosalie from the bathroom. "I've got dibs on Emmett."

"You can have him," Alice responded. "I want Jasper. Did you hear him? He sounded like the _perfect _southern gentleman. And oh my god, he is so hot. Did you see how his jacket went perfectly with his pants, most straight guys can't do that kind of thing. Do you think he's gay?" she ended with a horrified expression, walking toward the bed and sitting on the edge of it dejectedly.

"No Alice, he's not gay, he didn't sound like it anyways. Plus, did you see how he looked at you? Gay guys don't check girls out," Rosalie said from the bathroom. She effectively calmed and excited Alice, who rolled onto her stomach on the bed, clutching a pillow tightly and giggled.

When I didn't say something like the other two had Alice looked at me, a slight line of worry appearing between her eyebrows, "Oh Bella, did you want Jasper? I'm so sorry."

I hadn't been paying attention and turned to lean on my elbow and look at her. I couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. "No, no, that's not that at all. I guess I was just a little distracted. I think I'm pretty stuck on Edward, anyways."

Alice let out a relived little sigh and Rosalie just chuckled. She strode back into our room through the open bathroom door. She walked like a model, I was jealous. She put both of her hands on the end of the bed that I was laying on, bending over at the waist to meet Alice and my gazes.

Raising one eyebrow she asked, "So, what are you guys going to wear?"

This caused Alice to sit up like she had been struck by a bolt of lightning. "I can't believe it! I almost forgot there for a second."

I turned to my suitcase and starting digging for my bathroom bag. First thing was first, I had to take a shower. I pulled it out and headed toward the bathroom. After getting into the shower I cranked up the temperature to as hot as it would go. The scalding water made me relax and think about the day and get even more excited for the night. Unbidden, my mind started forming images of talking to Edward, dancing with Edward, kissing Edward. I pushed these thoughts from my mind, because if I had learned one thing about boys and relationships it was that there is no surer way to sabotage one than to over think it.

After extensive scrubbing and shampooing in the shower I got out and threw on a pair of gym shorts and a t-shirt while trying to decide what to wear for the night out. Alice and Rosalie were facing the same predicament, with clothes strewn over their beds. Alice's were mostly dark with intense pops of color, a top or a purse, where Rosalie's were nearly all vibrant and sure to cause double-takes.

My wardrobe was neither chic or sexy as were Alice's and Rosalie's, respectively. I liked to think of it as "pretty," lots of clean white cotton and boot cut jeans. Normally this worked well for me, but tonight I wanted to look hot. Laying out all my possible clothes on the couch by the window, I called to my roommates. "You guys, I have no idea what to wear… help me out?"

"Of course! I love love love picking out clothes," squealed Alice, running over in several graceful leaps.

She surveyed my collection, brows nit, focus sharp. "Bella, darling, we are absolutely going to have to take you shopping soon. But you do have a few good pieces." She picked out my shortest miniskirt—a present from my mom—and a white lacy tank top and laid them out and also my favorite dress—short, black, and quite tight, with big silver buttons going down one side. "Rosalie! Get over, we need your opinion." Rosalie walked over, slowly and gracefully.

"Oh, defiantly the dress. No question," she said after a very short time.

"The dress it is!" agreed Alice. I slipped it on and put on my only pair of pumps. They were black and not all that pump-y. Rosalie looked over at me and sighed.

"Bella, come on. You've got to take a risk!" After going over to her bag and digging for a while she came up with a pair of red stilettos. They were tall, way too tall. But hey, I figured, why not take a risk?

I was ready before the other two and started looking through Alice's "accessory bag." It was like a ultra-cool vintage store had exploded in her tote. Most of it I couldn't see myself wearing, but after a while I found a float-y red scarf with black detail work that exactly matched my borrowed shoes. After asking to borrow it ("Of course Bella! What's mine is yours."), I tied it around my neck, European-style, the way I had seen Italian women do it. I had been terribly big on make-up, but tonight I figured what the heck! I did a light bit of face make-up and some eyeliner and mascara. When I finished I sat down on the couch at the end of our room by the window and cracked open my book—a history of Volterra that I had received from my mother before the trip for some background reading.

When Alice and Rosalie finished getting dressed, doing hair and make-up, and basically transforming into the most glamorous people I had ever met, we did some final outfit critiques. Alice was wearing a fun strapless dress with at tight bodice and that came out at her waist with vertical colored stripes. She paired this with vintage-looking turquoise heals that had a strap over her foot and loads of bracelets.

Rosalie was wearing a tight, white, low-cut, tank top, a red, high waisted, pencil skirt and sexy black leather boots. While Alice had left her hair in pixy spikes, Rosalie had curled hers into soft waves. I pulled mine back into a clean, straight pony tail, the way I had seen models do it, mainly to show off my favorite pair of earrings—black and red glass.

Alice whipped out a camera from the clutch she was carrying that matched her shoes and insisted upon a "girls picture." We all gathered together in front of the window, she set the camera on self time and set it on the dresser. The light blinked slowly as she ran over to where Rosalie and I were standing and squeezed in the middle. Arms around each other, I felt myself smile, a big, ecstatic smile and knew the others were two. The camera beeped and Alice grabbed it and showed us the picture.

"God, we are hot stuff!" said Rosalie, with laughter in her voice. I couldn't help but agree. I looked good, I felt good, and Alice vocalized my next thought.

"There's no way those boys won't fall over themselves for this." At that we all burst out laughing, clutching at each other's shoulders and trying to keep our mascara from running.

I glanced over at the alarm clock on the nightstand, it was five till seven. "Let's get going!" I said. I couldn't keep from jumping up and down a couple times.

We turned off the lights and left the room to meet up with the guys in the hall. When we got out there we saw them waiting for us. My eyes went straight to Edward, of course. I noticed at once that he had primped. His hair was still wet on the tips like he had just gotten out of the shower and he was wearing a black button down with dark wash jeans. Man, that black was stunning on him. And the jeans weren't just any jeans, they were the kind of jeans that guys don't like to admit they have, but they're the ones that they wear when they want to look good, but like they don't know they look good. I felt a jet of excitement. Did Edward primp for me? Well, why not?

Jasper and Emmitt looked good too, you could tell that they had made a special effort for Alice and Rosalie. Jasper looked like he had just walked out of and Urban Outfitters, complete with dark green corduroys and a white and gray baseball shirt with the sleeves a different color than the body. Emmitt was wearing a button down and ripped jeans—looking quite ruggedly handsome. But even more than their clothes, I noticed that they were bursting with as much excitement as we were.

"Come on guys! What are we waiting for?" said Emmitt, somewhere between with the child-like excitement that is tinged with impatience. And with that we strode down the hall, down the stairs and into the lobby, floating and apart in our happiness.


End file.
